The Shepherd’s Voice

The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.

John 10:4-5, HCSB

IT WAS A TYPICAL crowded weekend at the mall. While leisurely strolling through a children’s toy store with his wife and two-year-old daughter, Josh felt a tiny hand grab his. Thinking it was his young daughter, he kept walking. Upon glancing down after a few steps, he discovered that it was the hand of a little girl he’d never seen before. At the same moment he looked down, she looked up. Thinking she had grabbed her own father’s hand, the young girl was shocked to realize it wasn’t him.

Josh took a quick visual pass across the store, saw a man who looked a bit like him, and instantly knew he had spotted her father, even though he’d never met him before.

Just as a little girl can mistake a familiar-looking stranger for her dad, we can do the same with our heavenly Father. Although it may not be a visual mistake, it can be an auditory mistake. Every day we are bombarded with messages and philosophies that claim to have authority and life, but in the end, they may not be true. The way we are able to discern these counterfeit messages as false is by immersing ourselves in the truth of God’s Word. Through daily time with our heavenly Father, we learn to not be easily taken in by words that aren’t from Him. We begin to think like He does as we consistently renew our minds in His Word.

BOTTOM LINE

The way to guard yourself from misleading messages is by daily meditating on your Shepherd’s voice through His Word.

Moment of Strength: Philippians 4:8